Pineapple fritters with pepperberry sugar

There is much debate about the merits of hot pineapple but I remain firmly in the positive camp. These are a grown-up version of pineapple fritters that I used to eat on the beach, a treat after fish ’n’ chips.

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 x 1.5 cm-thick rounds of pineapple
• 100 g caster sugar
• 500 ml (2 cups) water
• 1 vanilla pod, split and scraped
• 5 cloves
• ½ tsp table salt

Batter

• 200 g plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
• 150 g cornflour
• 400 ml cold sparkling water (approximately)

Pepperberry sugar

• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground pepperberry
• 1 tsp table salt

 

• vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.